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The maras of New York



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Otros Titulares
Las Maras de Nueva York


Federal investigators and gang experts say Mexican and Central American street gangs -- including La Gran Raza, MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha), and M-18 -- are flourishing in Queens and New Jersey.
As chronicled in a series in this newspaper, in neighborhoods such as Corona, Queens, the signs are everywhere. Graffiti on walls promotes "La Gran Raza." Young men wear gang markings in their clothing and jewelry.

The presence of gangs is changing the way people behave in their own neighborhoods. Residents rush to get past certain sections of Roosevelt Avenue and Linden Park before dark because they know that`s when the gang members come out and take over.

The violent Central American and Mexican youth gangs were actually spawned in the U.S., in the ghettos of Los Angeles and other cities. Due to bad immigration policy, arrested gang members were deported to Central America, where they established themselves and transformed the gangs into powerful crime networks. Now they are back. In Spanish they are called maras, short for marabuntas, a deadly species of ants.

Federal and local authorities in New York and New Jersey are using dragnets, surveillance and other techniques to control the gangs. In Queens, state Assemb. Jose Peralta has been a leader in the fight against gangs. And the Queens District Attorney`s Gang Violence and Hate Crimes Bureau is the oldest and most experienced youth violence unit in the city.

But more must be done. Law enforcement agencies at all levels must do a better job of sharing information and resources on gangs. And money and training are needed for a three-prong approach that has worked in other cities: suppression, which is heavy police work; intervention, including helping gang members who want to leave; and prevention, keeping young people away from gangs.